China’s Internet Triple Speak

On the possible reasons for the Chinese decision, [Rebecca MacKinnon] says it appears that the pragmatists within the Chinese government won out. It’s a reasonable observation—as she notes, refusing the license would have meant shutting Google out of China completely, thus sending an extremely negative message to the international business community.

If this is the case, it comes at a good time for China, following criticism from the likes of GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt,who earlier this month took a rare pubic swipe at the Chinese government by stating that the country was becoming increasingly protectionist. According to the FT, Immelt pondered out loud in his a speech whether, ‘in the end they (China) want any of us to win, or any of us to be successful.’

On the issue of the Internet, at least, Chinese government officials won’t hear of any suggestion that they’re anything but open. Indeed, last month the government released a white paper on its Internet policy in which it claimed that: ‘Chinese citizens fully enjoy freedom of speech on the Internet.’